Anatomy of a good MMO: Graphics

This time I want to talk about Graphics.

MMO's have the reputation of having lower standard graphics in the attempt at catching a broader customer base. I know of a few people who this truly annoys, being PC elitists who think that all games should have the best possible graphics known to mankind. I'm not one of them thankfully. That's to do partially with the fact that I was never well off enough to own a mega computer that I could constantly upgrade every few months with the latest gear, you might say it humbled me a bit.

If graphics are stylish and not obvious rip offs of WoW I can usually dig them, my main annoyance is laziness, if they are going for an art style that for instance is cartoonish (like Champions Online perhaps) that's cool but if they are just poor quality then that's a no no.

My main priority when it comes to the graphics are the actual animations of characters, mounts and enemies. These are the things you will be watching for your time spent on the game so they should be top notch, for the most part a lot of the big companies do get it right. WoW, CO, EvE all have very nice animations that are fluid and nice to watch.

I recently played Fallen Earth which is a post-apocalyptic MMO and it probably had some of the worst animations I've ever seen, granted it is still in beta but with its launch date looming close, I sure hope they manage to fix it or else I fear it may be doomed.

Check back soon for the next part where I'll be talking about controls.